Transfer of portfolios to a pension fund or a Pensionsfonds

(1) Every contract by which the portfolio of pension relationships of a retirement provision scheme operated by an institution for occupational retirement provision with a home state other than Germany is to be transferred, wholly or in part, to a pension fund or a Pensionsfonds requires the approval of the supervisory authority. The application for approval is made by the pension fund or the Pensionsfonds. The supervisory authority forwards the application without delay to the competent authority in the institution's home state.
(2) The contract under subsection (1), first sentence, must ensure that the costs of the transfer are borne neither by the existing prospective and current beneficiaries of the pension fund or the Pensionsfonds, nor by the remaining prospective and current beneficiaries of the institution.
(3) The transfer requires the consent of 1. the majority of the affected prospective beneficiaries and the majority of the affected current beneficiaries of the retirement provision scheme, or the majority of their representatives, the respective majority being determined in accordance with the applicable national rules, and 2. the sponsoring undertaking of the institution, insofar as its consent is required.
(4) The application under subsection (1), second sentence, must contain 1. the written agreement between the institution and the pension fund or the Pensionsfonds setting out the terms for the transfer; 2. a description of the main characteristics of the retirement provision scheme of the portfolio to be transferred; 3. a description of the liabilities or technical provisions to be transferred and of the other rights and obligations, and the associated assets or the liquid funds corresponding to them; 4. for the institution and for the pension fund or the Pensionsfonds, respectively, particulars of a) the name, b) the location of the head office, c) the home state; 5. the name and the main location of the affected sponsoring undertakings of the institution; 6. evidence of the consent under subsection (3); 7. a statement of the member and contracting states whose social and employment law provisions in the field of occupational retirement provision are relevant for the retirement provision scheme of the portfolio to be transferred.
(5) Where the supervisory authority has received the application under subsection (1), second sentence, it examines whether 1. the information prescribed under subsection (4) is contained in it, 2. a) the administrative structure and the financial position of the pension fund or the Pensionsfonds, and b) the reliability and professional suitability of the managers of the pension fund or the Pensionsfonds, are adequate for the requested transfer, 3. the long-term interests of the prospective and current beneficiaries a) of the pension fund or the Pensionsfonds, and b) of the portfolio to be transferred, are adequately protected during and after the transfer, 4. in the case that the transfer results in cross-border activity of the pension fund or the Pensionsfonds, the technical provisions of the pension fund or the Pensionsfonds are fully funded at the time of the transfer, and 5. the assets to be transferred are sufficient and adequate to cover the liabilities, the technical provisions, and the other obligations and claims to be transferred in accordance with the provisions applicable to pension funds and Pensionsfonds. The examination under the first sentence is also carried out with a view to whether the interests of the prospective and current beneficiaries are preserved.
(6) The supervisory authority decides on an application under subsection (1), second sentence, within three months, on the basis of the examination under subsection (5). It informs the competent authority in the institution's home state of the decision taken within two weeks. Approval is excluded where that authority has not agreed to the transfer.
(7) Where the application under subsection (1), second sentence, is approved, section 13(5) and (7), first and second sentences, applies.
(8) Where the transfer results in cross-border activity of the pension fund or the Pensionsfonds, section 242(1) to (3) does not apply. The supervisory authority transmits to the pension fund or the Pensionsfonds, within one week, the information on the provisions named in section 242(3), first sentence, points 1 and 2, that it has received on the occasion of the transfer from the competent authority in the institution's home state.
(9) Pension funds and Pensionsfonds may operate the assumed retirement provision scheme 1. as soon as they have received the approval under subsection (1), first sentence, unless the transfer results in cross-border activity, or 2. as soon as they have received the approval under subsection (1), first sentence, and the information named in subsection (8), second sentence, from the supervisory authority, but no later than seven weeks after receiving the approval.